Product Review: Newtons Fruit Thins

Recently the folks at Nabisco sent me a package of their new cookies called Newtons Fruit Thins. These new cookies reflect the changing attitude of the average American – they are wholegrain (8 grams per serving), made with real fruit and contain no high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or hydrogenated oils. For a cookie, that is rare.

They come in five flavors – Cranberry Citrus Oat, Blueberry Brown Sugar, Chocolate Raspberry and Fig and Honey. The package I received was Cranberry Citrus Oat. There are few things that I do not like to eat but cranberry is one of them. I try them every so often but usually I’m still on the anti-cranberry bandwagon.

Imagine my surprise when I tasted the first cookie and actually liked it, a lot. Within two hours I had eaten half of the 30 cookies. I ended up sharing them with my neighbor, another anti-cranberry person. She found the same pattern – she couldn’t stop eating them. That’s impressive.

Now, these are still cookies so it’s not like you can eat 15 of them (like I did) and have no repercussions. One serving contains 140 calories with only 45 of those deriving from fat. That same serving contains 22 grams of carbohydrates but just seven are from sugar and the one gram of dietary fiber lowers the chemical effects of the sugar to the equivalent of six grams. My only concern is that the serving size in question is only for three cookies. That’s not much of a snack even for a child but if you eat two servings 280 calories isn’t terrible – not for a dessert anyway.

Stuart is a celebrity chef, food activist and award-winning food writer. He penned the cookbooks Third Coast Cuisine: Recipes of the Gulf of Mexico, No Sides Needed: 34 Recipes To Simplify Life and Amigeauxs - Mexican/Creole Fusion Cuisine. He hosts two Internet cooking shows "Everyday Gourmet" and "Little Grill Big Flavor." His recipes have been featured in Current, Lagniappe, Southern Tailgater, The Kitchen Hotline and on the Cooking Channel.